


Actually Alive

by TheLacedNinja



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Bonding, He does volunteering, I hope you like the fic!!, It's cute and fluff filled, M/M, One sided at first, RK900 isn't an asshole in this one, mutual liking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 20:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17393174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLacedNinja/pseuds/TheLacedNinja
Summary: Gavin begins to bond with RK900 and things grow a bit better than he originally thought they would be.





	Actually Alive

Gavin had spent a better part of his life with not many people he could rely on. His parents had a messy divorce when he was ten, which lead him to be a delinquent in school. He used to have his dad to depend on. He was understanding, listened to him, and was his biggest supporter for coming out. That changed when he was sixteen. He passed away in a car accident while picking him up from school. Just when Gavin thought he had a handle on his life, the one person that mattered was taken from him. For two years he lived with his mom it was a constant yelling match. She never supported him. The day he turned eighteen he was gone.

Then there were his failed romances. At fifteen his first boyfriend broke up with him. It left him in ruins, but his father was there for him. At nineteen another boyfriend of his cheated on him. He left him behind while he went to school. The other romances he had were never as strong or meaningful as the ones that had destroyed him. He became guarded, nervous, and not interested in new people. One of the reasons he didn’t like androids. They were perfect. They never faltered, they never had bad personalities, they were just perfect. That is why people liked them. They were little servants. That is why any people was interested in liked them more. It was infuriating. Then Connor came into the station.

That fucking Android came in with his perfect award winning smile, charming personality, and fucking smug attitude. From the moment he met him he hated his guts. It didn’t matter if he pulled a gun on him, if he beat him up, but it mattered to Hank Anderson. For some reason he saw something in that android, that piece of plastic, that Connor. Gavin didn’t understand it, nor did he have any interest in it. He didn’t have interest in growing as a person either. Instead he just continued by himself. That is until something entered his life that he didn’t expect was this new RK until. Specifically, RK900 who was the last of the units to come out of CyberLife and became the new headquarters for JERICHO. He was a project that was already in development. He was hardly a completed model.

His personality wasn’t all the way there, his processing worked fast, and he seemed way too cold. Gavin hated him, but at least he wasn’t lying about who he was. He admitted that he was a piece of plastic. There was nothing alive about him. At least, not that Gavin noticed at first.

It wasn’t until around March that something changed. He was walking home from work, managed to grab some cat food for his own animals when he noticed that the piece of plastic was feeding a stray mama cat and some of her kittens. This was something that he did. RK900 had seen him do this before. It was odd that he was imitating his actions like this. Gavin Reed spent time around androids, for years, but he wondered why he was acting this way. Gavin trailed him once he was done with the cats. He seemed to be going to another place that was far out of the way.

It looked to be a mansion. That was an odd place as well. Gavin began wondering why this RK unit was here. He didn’t trust the android in the slightest. He tried making his life miserable, tried making it harder, and the android did the same thing back. Both were constantly at each other’s throats. Ready to have at each other in any given moment. But this was strange behavior even for an android. He ended up watching the mansion from a distance. He waited several hours until he finally left the building. It looked like he was talking to someone.

Gavin was officially skeptical of the android. This was odd behavior for a machine. Gavin was going to confront him about this in the morning. He had cats at home that needed to be fed. He left the mansion, heading home to take care of his pets.

The next morning, he slammed the piece of plastic against the wall in the hallway towards the evidence room. RK900, who had started calling himself Richard (he wasn’t going to call him that), looked at him with an unamused look which was expected by him. That was the same old RK unit he knew. The one that didn’t attempt to be human, but a machine. Gavin glared at the creature, sneering.

“I saw what you did yesterday,” he stated. It didn’t get much of a response from the android, only an eyebrow raise. “The stray cats and the mansion. What were you doing there?”

“Charity project,” he stated simply. “Connor suggested I do something in my spare time. I’ve chosen to do something for charity.”

“And what kind of fucking charity is that?” He sneered at the android.

“The kind that is none of your goddamn business,” RK900 states before pushing Gavin off. He walked back to his desk. Gavin threw a coffee cup toward the android, but it ignored the attempt. He hated this thing so fucking much. It drove him crazy for some reason. The detective went back to his desk to work on the cases he had. RK900 wasn’t human. He couldn’t chalk it up to him being a good person. Instead he stayed on edge about this who “charity” business. Besides, it’s not like a piece of plastic is really doing that of his own will.

 

* * *

 

 

It was in April when Gavin was investigating a new drug gang that had entered the city. He was put in charge of trying to find the leader of he gang to keep them from bringing in new, harder cases of Red Ice, which they nicknamed Blue Ice since it was blue. Same material used, but in heavier content. Everything was going fine in the investigation. He figured out that the leader a man named Matthew Timbers. Gavin had planned to arrest him. He had enough evidence on him to put him in jail for a long time. His report wasn’t just drug dealings, but he was also responsible for multiple murder charges. If Gavin caught him, he will be taking in one dangerous man.

He had cornered the guy in an old warehouse. RK900 was with him, as usual because for some reason they were partners in everything he did which annoyed him beyond imagination. He went around the back to keep him from escaping with the rest of the squad. He got everything in position. Gavin charged into the building with his gun drawn. He was ready to take them out. He run up the stairs with his part of the squad. They busted down the door. There were a few bullets flying to them. He hid behind the door, blocking it from anyone that tried escaping the building. A few times Gavin almost got hit, but he managed to get through the defenses. He dodge behind boxes, additional stuff that had filled the room.

The detective was closer to get the drug lord until RK900 came out of nowhere, punching him square in the jaw. He screamed, because something cracked or hurt badly as he quickly arrested the rest of the men in handcuffs. People came in to assist him, but Gavin was furious. He disobeyed orders by leaving his post. Though part of it was that he felt like he was outshined by this golden boy. It infuriated him. He felt like everything he did, all the hard work and all the nights he spent tracking him down felt like it was outshined by an android, a piece of plastic.

Gavin puffed a little bit as he went to take him in. Everyone was doing their job while the detective went the other direction to look around the place. It was filled with different parts, equipment, and materials. He sighed as he began taking in the different inventory that was there. He turned around to see that RK900 was there with him.  
“Aren’t you supposed to be working on getting those guys rounded up?” He asked a bit annoyed by this.

“I noticed you seemed a bit irritated,” the piece of plastic stated. Like it was so easy to read human emotions. “Detective Reed, it was not my intention to take away credit. Everything is to you. I just… I worried about you. My body can be replaced easily, but yours cannot.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you didn’t want me getting hurt?” He asked glaring at him. “Like a friend?”

“Exactly like a friend,” RK900 said simply. Gavin was a bit taken aback by this. He looked at him with a bit with surprise. “I know we started off on the wrong footing, but after spending time with you I have found that you aren’t entirely terrible.”

“If you think I am going to befriend a piece of plastic you have another thing coming,” Gavin snapped at him. For a moment he saw a little hint of being hurt by his words flash in his eyes. Gavin had gotten used to the cold way that RK900 had been. Used to the neutral expression. This was the first time that he’s seen something more human, or as other people called it, alive. It was strange. “Look, I don’t need to befriend any androids.”

“But our professional work relationship remains the same?” He asked sounding he… it was hopeful. Gavin knew better than to refer androids were nothing. They weren’t even real people. They acted real, but nothing felt real. “Here I thought we were making progress.”

“We were never making any progress!” He snapped. He walked over to the android. He pressed his finger to his chest. “You and I work together. That’s it. You aren’t anything to me. Just another hunk of plastic, something that means nothing to me.”

Richard looked down at him. He noticed that there was a hint of something in his eyes. Maybe he was hurt. “Detective Reed, we have been through a lot together,” he began. “If you think of me as a piece of plastic then perhaps, we shouldn’t work together. There are those that would be more appropriate to work with than you.”

Gavin glared at the android even harder. For some reason he didn’t like the idea of him getting a new partner, but then the idea of working with the android filled him with anger. “You are fucking tin can I ought to condense you to scrap….” A gun was heard around the room. Apparently, there was someone hidden in this part of the building. It his Gavin on the shoulder as he fell against the android. Richard acted quickly shooting at the person. He managed to hit their shoulder. Officers rushed in.

“Go arrest him, I will help Detective Reed,” Richard said as he looked at the bleeding wound. He frowned seeing it. Gavin needed to get to the hospital quickly. “Officers, I will be taking Detective Reed to the hospital. The bullet hit him in a bad part of his shoulder.”

“I’ll be fine,” he groaned, though he knew it was bad.

Richard didn’t seem to pay attention as he dragged him outside of the building. He loaded him up in the car to take him there. Gavin complained the entire time about how he shouldn’t worry about him.

“I don’t see why you are worried about me when I was kind of an asshole to you,” he said with a breathy laugh.

“My brother told me it’s important to be the bigger person,” he stated simply. “That is what I am and tried to be. But you refuse to be cooperative then our professional relationship won’t work.”

Gavin found it strange that he referred Connor to as brother. But what do you expect from androids? “Supposed Connor is the closest thing you have to a brother,” he commented. “So, you’re just trying to be a better person.”

“Detective Reed, I wish for us to be friends,” Richard said. “However, if this won’t work for you then perhaps, I should rethink things.”

Gavin looked out the window, pain in his shoulder thinking over what the android just said. For a long time, he has been bitter, angry, and overall furious towards them. There was more to this though. He had issues with androids from the beginning. They were so uncanny in many terms of how they looked and tried to act human, but they weren’t. They were slaves to people. Slaves to be ordered around. His dad thought of them differently. He thought of them with potential and couldn’t get past that they didn’t have souls. A lot of people saw that.

“My dad was killed by an android,” he blurted out. Richard looked over to him. “Well, I say he was, but he wasn’t directly killed by one. Look, I’ll tell you later.”

“Detective, is this a way of opening up?” He asked with a bit of playfulness to his voice.

“Just get me to the hospital before I lose too much blood.”

Richard didn’t respond. He huffed continuing to look at the window. Not many people knew that’s why he hated androids. It was even harder to open to an android when all he saw were just parts and plastic. Glancing towards the android perhaps he was wrong. Only perhaps, however.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin had been patched up he was sitting back in the DPD working a report about the incident and the drug bust. Surprisingly people still applauded him for the work. It kind of made him happy. Though when people were talking to Richard, he did point towards him. The android then came over to him, taking a seat across from him. Gavin could tell that he was expecting their conversation to continue from inside the car. This was a conversation that he wasn’t interested in happening, but… he was going to try. It was sort of the least he could do for being an asshole to him.

“Once I’m done with this report let’s go somewhere more private,” Gavin said looking around. “Don’t feel like sharing that with a bunch of people.”

Richard nodded his head in agreement. Gavin looked down at his report suddenly realizing that when talking about the android he used more human pronouns instead of it. Instead he used his name, pronouns to describe him, almost like the android was a person. Gavin submitted the report into the department before turning into him. He motioned for him to head out of the department. The two walked down the street a little bit to a coffee shop that was rather private because there was no way he was taking the android home.

They sat down at a table together looking at each other awkwardly. Richard wasn’t going to say anything first. He was waiting for Gavin to make the first move. He sighed scratching his head. “Your father,” he said first to prompt him to talk.

“My dad was a cop,” Gavin began. “I wanted to be like him. He was always my biggest supporter. We were close. Then androids began getting popular and things got complicated. They looked human, acted human, but weren’t human. It freaked me out. I didn’t hate them at first. My dad didn’t like how they were treated. He saw something in them that not everyone did. It wasn’t until people began viewing them more weirdly.

“A case came up where a couple went through a divorce. He was leaving her for the android.” He let out a sad laugh. “She wasn’t even deviant. The guy basically went insane and my dad was supposed to help bring him in. He had a gun… shot at people. My dad just happened to get fatally shot by the guy. But when he was killed the guy got arrested and the android was returned to the woman. Forced me to live with my mom, which is a different story entirely. Since then I blamed them for everything. They were just pieces of plastic.”

“You resented them,” Richard said giving him a sympathetic look. Gavin nodded without giving much information away. “Perhaps you can begin accepting androids a bit more now? We are partners after all.”

Gavin laughed a little bit, still feeling a bit empty inside, a bit depressed. Gavin liked Richard though. He could see them as friends. “Yeah. We can definitely become friends.”

This sort of began a friendship with Richard. Gavin began talking to him more at work in a friendly tone. Even not being as much of an asshole to Connor which through the android for a loop. It was gradual, but they began to talk more about interests. There were still things that Gavin didn’t know what the android did on his free time other than hang with his sorry ass, which was nice. He brought him to his apartment a few times for dinner where they watched movies. His cats loved Richard. They would snuggle next to him as the android would pet him.

It was during their weekly hangouts that Richard began open a little bit to him. He began talking about what he did on his free time. “I fix androids,” he explains. “After the revolution there were a lot of deformed androids. Markus made a home for them in a mansion. I go there to provide services to help fix them and help them out. Some of them just want a peaceful life.”

Gavin pat his cat gently thinking about how he hadn’t thought of how androids were damaged during the revolution. “What kind of androids are there?” He asked raising an eyebrow. “I won’t be any help because I know shit about repairing androids.”

“You could still come by,” he said with a smile. “It would be nice to see you and I’m sure others would think of you as being pretty neat.”

Gavin snorted a little laugh. “Oh god, did you just say neat?” He asked. Richard nodded his head. This android was something else. That didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy his company. He liked him a lot. Like his personality, like how nice he was. “But maybe I’ll come by. When do you work there next?”

“Tomorrow,” he answered. “You can just come by around seven to meet everyone there.”

Gavin smiled a little bit. He eats his Chinese food. He then noticed that Richard was looking at him a certain way that almost seemed soft. Happy even. Maybe he was content? It was hard to describe. But if he could describe the way he was looking at him he would define it as liking? It was odd.

The next day Gavin found himself at the mansion. He could tell there was a sign on the mansion that read: Refuge for Androids. This was going to be awkward. He came inside the place to see how o the different androids there. Then there was Richard laughing and smiling with a child android. He seemed so happy. Like this was what he was supposed to be doing. Gavin’s heart began to get a little bit faster seeing him interact with the other androids. Almost like he began to like him a little more. He hated this. He was charming, and it bothered him.

“Shit…” he said under his breath. He approached him with a smile. “Hey, Richard!” He looked at the android very much excited about seeing him.

“Gavin, you’re early,” he said with a small smile. “This is Eliot. I was fixing his arm.” The kid waved to him before going off. Richard smiled a little bit. “He’s shy around new people. This used to be someone’s mansion, but…” He paused briefly to find the words. “They experimented on androids. Tricked deviants and then tortured them. They remain here to help keep things going. I have where I can.”

Gavin saw a severely deformed android walking around with some other androids. He began to understand what he meant. He was helping them. Richard was genuinely interested in seeing these androids get a better life. Fuck. Why was he thinking of him in such a way? It was weird. He was an android. He wasn’t supposed to be feeling anything for them. Though the last couple months he liked him a little bit. Maybe now it was growing a lot. He tried to get himself calm a bit because he knew that he could sense his heartrate.

“Ready to go?” He asked suddenly disrupting his thoughts. “Let’s get you some food.”

The two began to get walking out of the place. One of the androids waved bye to him. He smiled a little bit as he waved back to them. Once they were outside Gavin did a little playful nudge. “Aren’t you the popular one,” he aid with a little bit of a laugh.

“I just no everyone there,” he stated simply. He looked at him with a bit of a smile. Richard was a little closer to him than he realized. “It was good to see you there. But I could tell it was awkward for you.”

“Just because I’m not used to them,” he defended himself. “I will admit that you seemed pretty happy doing that. Liked you enjoyed it.”

“I still like being your partner more,” Richard leaned over close. It was a bit of a smirk. “This is good for my free time when I’m not with you.”

Gavin was a little taken aback that someone genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. After the time they spent together it was nice. Gavin kind of thought that there might be a little more to this relationship than he originally thought. He smiled a little bit with a little blush playing on his cheeks. He liked Richard. Didn’t think he would get any sort of feelings for an android.

“Gavin, I’ve noticed a difference in your behavior,” Richard pointed out suddenly. “It’s been changing over the last couple weeks. I’ve been worried about it but seeing as it isn’t effecting anything negatively it’s not been noticeable.”

“Like, what do you mean by changes?” He asked a little bit nervously.

“You get more flustered when I am around, your heart beats a little faster, and you seem to get a little redder when I talk to you.” As he explained his greatest fears came to the life. He realized that he might have…” It’s come to my conclusion you have feelings for me.” He paused a little bit looking at Gavin. “Am I wrong on this conclusion?”  
“Well… you’re not wrong…” Gavin tried to calm down as he tried thinking of something. “It’s just hard to explain.”

Richard suddenly grabbed his hand looking at him deep in his eyes. Gavin felt so exposed at this moment. His heart was beating fast in his chest as he looked at him. He was nervous about what would come out of his mouth next. He watched him intensely.

“I like you too,” he said with a soft smile. “I know this might be forward, but I feel something between us. Even if you aren’t ready for anything, I feel something.”

If you had told Gavin months ago, he would have feelings for this android then he would have laughed. Loudly. Would have been much more of an asshole if this was done earlier. But it was happening now. He was considering diving into a romantic relationship with him. This android felt something. He felt happiness, sadness, concern, empathy, and love. Gavin wouldn’t have believed in a year ago, a moth ago, but this moment he had never seen him so vulnerable. He was alive.

“I like you, but I can’t say it’s love yet,” Gavin with a bit of a smile. “But I’m willing to give this relationship a shot. What do you think?”

“I think I like that a lot,” Richard aid giving him a soft kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I hope that you enjoyed the fic Indigo! Sorry it is so late! Stuff happened! Here it is! Thank you for being awesome! You are a wonderful person, I hope you know that!!


End file.
